Gluten Free Central

What would Valentine’s Day be without something for your sweet-tooth? And since boxed chocolates are a little too risky for comfort, (you never know what’s in those things) I can’t think of anything better than a fluffy angel food cake with whip cream and strawberries…yumm.

Angel food cake can be intimidating to approach when making it gluten free, but it’s actually not that difficult! And we found a couple of tips that might help.

Angel Food Cake

• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 1/3 cup potato starch
• 1/2 tsp xantham gum
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 cup egg whites (I ended up using the whites from 9 large eggs)
• 1 Tbs water
• 1 tsp cream of tartar
• 2 tsp vanilla flavoring
• 1/3 cup sugar

Tip: You want superfine sugar for this recipe; it will help make the cake lighter and fluffier. We used regular table sugar and ran it through a food processor for about 2 minutes to get it extra fine.

Preheat oven to 350°. In a bowl, combine cornstarch, potato starch, xantham gum, 3/4 cup sugar and salt. In a separate bowl, combine egg whites, water, cream of tartar and vanilla. Using a mixer, beat until frothy. While beating the egg mixture, slowly add the other 1/3 cup of sugar. You’ll continue beating the mixture until stiff peaks form. It should look glossy, and the peaks should stand up on their own. Then fold in the flour mixture and make sure you get out all the lumps.

Tip: Be very gentle when you fold in the flour! You want the egg white mixture to keep as much of its airiness as possible. Using a large rubber spatula, cut through the middle of the bowl, drag along the bottom and up the side, then fold the mixture back over itself. Turn the bowl slightly and repeat. Keep folding and turning the bowl until all the lumps are gone.

Pour the batter into your angel food cake pan and press down slightly to remove any air pockets. Then just bake for 35 to 40 minutes. It should be a lovely golden brown color. This cake cools best upside down, so invert the pan on a glass bottle. Run a knife along the edges to loosen the cake and remove from the pan. Enjoy! )

We used a recipe for Angel Food Cake from The Gluten Free Kitchen by Roben Ryberg.

We’re always looking for cool new tips and recipes to share on the show. So email yours to tips@gfcentral.com.

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